Kardashian Sues Over Claims She Faked Robbery

(CN) — Kim Kardashian West sued an online media outlet for libel after it allegedly claimed she faked her recent Paris robbery to bilk her insurance carrier for millions of dollars. The reality TV star was assaulted and robbed on Oct. 3 in Paris after armed robbers forced their way into the private residence she was staying at during fashion week. In her lawsuit filed Tuesday in Manhattan federal court, Kardashian West claims she was “victimized” a second time only hours after the robbery when the website MediaTakeOut.com and its owner Fred Mwangaguhunga allegedly published an article branding her a liar and a thief. Citing “people on social media”, the website published three different articles on the attack, with the first one describing alleged “discrepancies” in Kardashian West’s account of the robbery and claiming the entire ordeal was staged to increase ratings of her family’s television shows, according to the complaint. The site’s Oct. 6 headline went a step further, her lawsuit claims, when it published that she “filed an insurance claim…for $5.6 million!!” and possibly “committed a federal crime” if the robbery was indeed staged. “The articles themselves are fraught with unsupported allegations and fail to identify or cite to any credible sources to back up the wild claims asserted therein,” the complaint states. “Defendants’ publication of the articles could not be more reckless, or malicious, in light of the actual facts.” Although the normally active social media user has remained silent since the attack, details in the complaint portrayed a terrified Kardashian West dressed only in a robe as two masked men “placed a gun to her head, duct-taped her hands, legs and mouth” and then left her on the bathroom floor as they made out with millions of dollars in jewelry. Shortly after the attack, a spokesman said Kardashian West was “badly shaken but physically unharmed.” Her sister Khloe Kardashian told Ellen DeGeneres on Tuesday the star is “not doing that well.” “It’s incredibly traumatic what happened to her,” she said. No arrests have been made in the attack, but Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has vowed to get to the bottom of the case. “I have full confidence that the police force, as part of their investigation, will quickly identify and apprehend the perpetrators of these acts,” Hidalgo said in a statement released shortly after the robbery. Despite repeated requests, the eight-page complaint claims MediaTakeOut refused to take down the articles and ignored Kardashian West’s demand for a public retraction and apology. The reality TV star seeks punitive damages and is represented by Andrew Brettler of Lavely & Singer in Los Angeles. MediaTakeOut did not immediately respond Tuesday to an emailed request for comment.